Holocaust survivors visit Oak Hammock students' museum

PORT ST. LUCIE — Two of her greatest passions in life are children and global culture, so when the opportunity arose for Belkis Madera to be a world history teacher, it was a no-brainer.

The Port St. Lucie resident has been teaching for 15 years, seven of them at Oak Hammock K-8 since it opened in 2005. Her dedication to building racial and cultural tolerance among her students has won her the Outstanding Holocaust Educator Award from the Center for Holocaust and Human Rights Education at the Florida Atlantic University.

"When I found out ... I was humbled because I really don't do what I do to get awarded," Madera said. "My satisfaction comes from actually knowing that the kids are learning about this subject and that they are going to be a voice for generations to come."

The award recognizes teachers who have had a demonstrated positive impact on their schools and the wider community in the field of holocaust, genocide and human rights education.

Madera last year participated in a three-day seminar at the Holocaust Museum in Washington. "There I met one of the survivors," Madera said. "His name is Norman Frajman." The trip inspired Madera to start Oak Hammock's own holocaust museum.

Frajman visited Oak Hammock in June with Zelda Fuksman, editor of "We Remember the Children," a book about 36 child survivors, including Frajman and his wife. After seeing the exhibits the school's sixth-graders created — paintings, poems and portraits of holocaust survivors – Fuksman nominated Madera for the award. Madera and two other Florida teachers will be recognized at FAU's annual Teacher Appreciation Dinner Feb. 20.

Oak Hammock's students are busy preparing more exhibits to display in their museum for Frajman's and Fuksman's second visit to the school Feb. 13, along with 70 other holocaust survivors and their spouses. This time, they're working on portraits of the 36 survivors featured in "We Remember the Children."

"She does units not just on the holocaust but also on Hispanic heritage and African American history," Peterson said. "So I would say she celebrates diversity, and I really believe that diversity is what continues to make our country strong."

At 52, Madera has no plans of retiring soon, but knows what she wants her legacy to be: "ubuntu" — an ancient South African saying that means togetherness.

"I want my students to learn that we are more alike than different," she said. "There is a vast world out there, and we need to learn how to get along."